Marching Bands Hitting Their Stride

NOTICED

February 27, 2006|By GREG MORAGO; COURANT STAFF WRITER

You don't need 76 trombones to make a big impression. When 20 members of Florida A&M University's marching band took to the stage with Kanye West and Jamie Foxx at the Grammy Awards, they rocked the house with feathered plumes, gold buttons and high-stepping style.

They also were the most recent examples of what might well be labeled marching-band chic.

Drum-major-led marching bands are hot. Gwen Stefani wrote ``Hollaback Girl'' in a marching-band style, had a marching band in the video and even recruited a marching band to go on tour with her. For his spring 2006 collection, fashion designer Marc Jacobs hired Penn State University's marching band to open his runway show (complete with a baton twirler).

Band geek (think about the famous ``this one time at band camp'' routine from ``American Pie'') has obviously given way to band chic. The 2002 movie ``Drumline'' upped the ante with its fierce marching-band smackdown, and now the executive producer of ``Drumline'' is working with a production company to create a reality TV show revolving around marching bands. The show would recruit marching-band musicians for ``boot camp.''

A separate reality show called ``Season of the Tiger,'' exploring the famous band and football team of Grambling State University, starts May 4 on BET.

We asked David Mills, director of the University of Connecticut marching band -- a 300-member wall of sound -- what he thought about a marching-band reality show. . As it turns out, not much.

``Reality shows are about individuals. A marching band is the antithesis of that. It's about a group,'' says Mills, who is on sabbatical this semester but still very much in touch with his band. ``But we do have a drumline, a great drumline.''

Still, Mills concedes, a camera following the UConn marching band could be interesting. ``Everyone is represented in the band. We have almost every major at the university included in the band. We're the conduit for the students. Everyone knows someone in the band. We're the prism the school spirit runs through.''

Now that's more like it! March on, UConn! Step lively, marching bands everywhere. Your oom-pah-pah day has come. Enjoy it.